March 15, 2013

Sede Vacante

And so the dust has settled, the white smoke has vanished
into thin air and a new pope has been elected, bringing an end to another Sede
Vacante (Vacant See) period in Vatican City. The circumstances leading up to these events
were highly unusual, what with the pope abdicating rather than dying, and this
may well have led to the customary Sede Vacante stamps being extra popular. These
stamps, however, have been in use ever since Vatican City started issuing its
own stamps, in 1929.

At the time, Pius XI was pope. He died in 1939, giving rise
to the first ever Sede Vacante stamps. Not much of an effort was made, with
just a simple overprint on some of the existing definitives.

The set does highlight one of the traditions linked to this
period, that being a change in the Holy See’s Coat of Arms. Normally, the Coat
of Arms includes a papal tiara, but when there is no pope, this is replaced with
a so-called umbraculum, or umbrella. The keys, as they are St Peter’s Keys to
Heaven, do remain in place.

In 1939, Pius XII became pope, and he lasted until 1958. The
Sede Vacante set of that year was the first to be properly designed as such. It
was still a rather plain affair, with just the Arms and some explanatory text included.

The next pope, John XIII, died in 1963, and the Sede Vacante
stamps following his death were just as plain as their 1958 predecessors.

Things finally started to brighten up a bit in 1978, when
there were not one but two popeless periods. Pope Paul VI died in August 1978.
The Sede Vacante stamps show a stylised depiction of the Arms. It’s quite a
remarkable design, especially in view of the remainder of the Vatican stamp
catalogue, which is highly traditional as far as designs is concerned.

His successor, John Paul I, only lasted a couple of weeks, giving rise to the need for yet another Sede Vacante
set. This time, the Arms are depicted as some sort of mosaic or stained glass,
take your pick. Though only issued in October, the pope had died in September. Unprepared
for this, there were no stamps ready yet so it took a while for them to be
issued. Hence the inclusion of Sett, being short for September.

The next pope, John Paul II, lasted quite a bit longer, until
2005 to be precise. The Sede Vacante stamps following his death still depict
the Arms, but it’s a much more romantic design, with an angel taking the Arms up
to Heaven, surrounded by chubby cherubs. This is actually an 18th
century fresco by Carlo Malli.

And so we end up at the Sede Vacante stamps which were
issued this month. The idea of the angel lifting up the Arms has been retained,
but this time we have a purpose-made design, by Daniela Longo.

Though probably extra popular at the moment seeing they are
linked to the first papal abdication since time immemorial, it remains to be
seen whether they can hang on to their popularity or will just become one in a
row of many!